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B 

Oleomargarine 

Its Purity, Wholesomeness and 
Economic Importance 



BY J. S. ABBOTT 

Secretary, Institute of Margarin Manufacturers 



BULLETIN No. 4 

Saptember 30, 1922 



The object of this' bulletin is to set forth the fact that 
oleomargarine, also called margarin and margarine, is a 
clean, pure and MrKdfe^^a article of food, and that it is 
scientifically made^f th> f^|l|d products of American Agri- 
culture under goverau^qjiyt insbection. It therefore has a 
rightful place in ouiiii'dfet as $^1 as in our economic system. 



Issued by the 

INSTITUTE OF MARGARIN MANUFACTURERS 

1212 Munsey Building 
Washington, D. C. 



Oleomargarine 

Its Purity, Wholesomeness and 
Economic Importance 



BY J. S. ABBOTT 

Secretary, Institute of Margartn Manufacturers 



BULLETIN No. 4 

September 30, 1922 



The object of this bulletin is to set forth the fact that 
oleomargarine, also called margarin and margarine, is a 
clean, pure and wholesome article of food, and that it is 
scientifically made of the food products of American Agri- 
culture under government inspection. It therefore has a 
rightful place in our diet as well as in our economic system. 



Issued by the 

INSTITUTE OF MARGARIN MANUFACTURERS 

1212 Munsey Building 
Washington, D. C. 



IMPORTANCE OF FATTY FOODSTUFFS 
IN OUR DIET 

"An abundant supply of fat is of major impor- 
tance in the consideration of nutrition, whether of the 
individual or the nation. Not only are fats whole- 
some, palatable, and most useful in cooking, but many 
also carry fat-soluble vitamin A. 

"An adequate national food policy therefore re- 
quires that an abundant fat supply be maintained 
during peace times as well as during war, and there 
is justification for the efforts made to find new 
sources of food fats and to make better use of those 
we now have." — U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bulletin No. 
1033, July 27, 1922. 



-y.«.^ Oleomargarine 

Its Purity, Wholesomeness, and Economic Importance 



By J. S. ABBOTT, Secretary, 
Institute of Margarin Manufacturers 

OLEOMARGARINE has been used in the United States for about 
fifty years. The annual consumption of it is from 100,000,000 
to 400,000,000 pounds. Its composition, wholesomeness, food value, 
and economic importance are therefore worthy of careful considera- 
tion. 

There is no mystery about this product. The processes of man- 
ufacture are well known or can be easily ascertained. Its composi- 
tion is also well known. The government publishes annually not only 
the name but the quantity of each and every foodstuff used in its 
manufacture. By referring to Table I, it will be observed that they 
are fats, salt, and milk. These are pure and wholesome articles 
of food that are consumed in one form or another every day. 

Classes or Groups of Foodstuffs 

On the basis of their composition, foodstuffs have been divided 
into five classes, viz., protein, fats, carbohydrates, mineral matter, and 
water. In common language, according to the U. S. Food Leaflet 
No. 4, they are classified as follows: 

1. Vegetables and fruits. 

2. Milk, Eggs, Fish, Meat, Cheese, Beans, Peas, Peanuts. 

3. Cereals — Corn meal. Oatmeal, Rice, Bread, etc. 

4. Sugar, Sirups, Jelly, Honey, etc. 

5. Fats — Butter, Margarine (also called margarin and oleo- 

margarine). Cottonseed oil, Olive oil, Drippings, Suet, 
Lard, Neutral lard, Peanut oil, Oleo oil. Com oO, Cocoa- 
nut oil, and many others. 

Functions of Fats as Food 

Oleomargarine belongs in that group of foodstuffs that has been 
designated Fats. It should always be considered on that basis and 

3 



with that fact in miad, for each class of foodstuffs performs a pretty 
definite function or functions in our bodies. The fats perform two 
distinct functions. They make the rest of our diet more palatable and 
they supply our bodies with energy, that is, heat and power to work. 
According to the best scientific information a pound of one kind of 
fat yields exactly the same amount of heat and muscular energy as 
a pound of any other kind of fat and one kind of fat is "digested 
with practically the same ease and completeness ' ' as any other kind of 
fat.^ See Table II. On the basis of the actual utility of a fat as 
a foodstuff, there is therefore no choice except in the matter of cleanli- 
ness, soundness, freedom from contamination, in short, safety as a 
food, price, convenience of handling, suitability for certain cooking 
purposes, and last but by no means least, palatability. 

Palatability of Fats 

Notwithstanding the fact that fats make the rest of our diet more 
palatable, fats themselves are not very palatable to the American 
people. Nobody in this country eats a fat or fatty foodstuff by itself. 
When eaten with the rest of our diet, the palatability of fatty food- 
stuffs depends upon their origin, upon the degree of their refinement, 
and upon the processes of their preparation. The refining processes 
may remove their flavor. In the making of mixtures or compounds in 
which fats are the chief constituents, desirable flavors may be im- 
parted to them. On this point, Holmes and Lang^ make the fol- 
lowing statement: 

"The flavors and odors of fats are probably due to the pres- 
ence in them of small amounts of difficultly removable substances 
rather than to specific properties of the pure fats themselves, in view 
of the fact that flavors and odors become much less noticeable the 
more completely the fats are purified. The characteristic flavor of 
butter, for example, is due to the absorption by the fat of the sub- 
stances formed in the fermentation of milk and cream by lactic 
acid and bacteria and to the presence of small particles of curd. ' ' 

How Oleomargarine is Made 

The basis of the modern methods of making oleomargarine and 
fthe reasons for making it are found in the foregoing statements 
which may be summed up briefly as follows: 

The digestibility and energy value of the several kinds of fats as 



1 Dr. E. V, McCollum, The Day's Food in War and Peace by the U. S. Dept. 
of Agriculture and the U. S. 'Food Administration, 

2 A. D. Holmes and H. L. Lang, Bui. 469, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

4 



food are practically the same. Fats have very little if any flavor. De- 
sirable flavors can be imparted to them. The liquid fats can be 
easily changed into soft or hard fats. The oleomargarine manufac- 
turer's problem and his service to humanity is that of increasing our 
supply of fatty foodstuffs by utilizing our less expensive but equally 
valuable food fats by making them more palatable and by changing 
them from the inconvenient liquid form to a convenient soft or hard 
consistency. 

In making oleomargarine the manufacturer ripens clean pas- 
teurized milk under thoroughly sanitary conditions to the point that 
it will impart an agreeable flavor to the fats and oils which he pre- 
fers to use in his product. The mixture of ripened milk and fats and 
oils is then agitated, chilled, and worked to remove the excess water 
from it. It is salted to taste, cut or moulded into prints, and packed 
as it appears in commerce. The whole process seems very simple, 
but it is in reality a very scientific one. Every ingredient must be 
pure and clean. Temperatures must be exactly right. Machinery, 
buildings, and workmen must be clean. Even the air in the build- 
ings must be clean. Some factories pump the air through purifying 
machines into the manufacturing rooms. 

Government Supervision of Oleomargarine Manufacture 

The government supervision over these factories as well as over 
the manufacture of the product itself was well explained in the able 
address of Dr. E. P. Schaffter, Inspector in Charge, Bureau of Ani- 
mal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, at the third annual 
convention of the Institute of Margarin Manufacturers. He ex- 
plained in detail the government supervision over every ingredient of 
oleomargarine that contains animal fat from its source clear through 
to the labeling of the finished product. The following excerpts from 
his address are sufficient to indicate the thoroughness of that super- 
vision in connection with oleo oil, neutral lard, milk and butter, as 
well as with the buildings themselves. Dr. Schaffter said: 

"My desire is to present to you in a brief and general way the 
inspection of the products entering into the composition of oleomar- 
garine, the character of the equipment for handling the ingredients 
used in its preparation, and the requirements as to sanitation in the 
establishments that operate under inspection. 

5 



''Regulations governing meat inspection in the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture require, primarily, that the construction of establish- 
ments which operate under inspection must conform to a type that 
will readily permit of their being maintained in a clean and sanitary 
condition. Abundant light, both natural and artificial, and sufficient 
ventilation are required in all rooms and compartments. Efficient 
drainage and plumbing system, and all drains and gutters should be 
properly installed with approved traps and vents to insure proper 
sanitary conditions. The rooms and compartments in which any meat 
or products is prepared or handled should be free from odors from the 
dressing rooms, toilets, etc. * * * 

''The water supply shall be ample, clean and potable. Equip- 
ment and utensils used for preparing, processing and otherwise han- 
dling meat or meat products shall be of such materials and construc- 
tion as will make them susceptible of being readily and thoroughly 
cleaned. Special reference is made to the need of properly con- 
structed equipment for pumping or otherwise conveying milk or cream 
or a mixture containing milk and cream through pipes or open con- 
ductors. The pumps, pipes, conductors and fittings shall be of sani- 
tary construction. * * * 

"The scope of inspection of the products entering into the com- 
position of oleomargarine in reality begins with the ante-mortem in- 
spection and continues throughout its various phases of processing 
and handling until it has reached that stage where the label is applied 
to the container and the product is ready for shipment. But we will 
refrain from dealing with the general subject of inspection except as 
it directly applies to the products used in the manufacture of oleo- 
margarine. 

"The fats principally used in the production of oleo oil (which 
is used in making oleomargarine) and stearin are the caul and ruffie 
fats of the beef. One of the first operations in the dressing of the 
beef carcass is to make the incision along the median line, laying back 
of hide and the removal of the caul fat. This fat is placed immedi- 
ately in a metal receptacle, separate for the purpose of identification, 
and held until the final inspection of the carcass is completed. 
* * * After the fats are removed they are placed in receptacles 
with cold water and chilled until the animal heat is removed. 

"The product is now ready for the manufacture of oleo oil stock 
and stearin. The fats are then transferred from the chilling tanks 
to the enterprise hasher. In order to prevent unnecessary handling 
of the fats, this hasher is made portable so that it can be stationed 
near the steam jacketed melting tank so as to allow the fat to drop 
directly into the tank. This tank is equipped with mechanical agi- 
tators and the fat is melted at a temperature ranging between 145 
and 155 degrees F,, agitating it all the while it is melting. When the 
melting process is nearly finished, it will be noted that the animal tis- 
sue is slowly sinking to the bottom leaving the clear oil or stock on 
top. * * * 

"When the oil has been thoroughly settled out, it is drawn off 
through a steam pipe arranged near the top of the tank and drawn 
into the super settling tanks and allowed to settle and dry out to in- 
sure against moisture and tissue. * * * 

6 



"The oleo oil expressed from the stock runs off through a small 
metal trough connected with the press into a receiver and transferred 
from this receiver directly into new tierces at a temperature of about 
90 degrees F. and allowed to remain in these receptacles until the 
temperature has lowered to about 65 or 70 degrees before being placed 
in the cooler. * * * 

"Neutral lard is one of the principal ingredients employed in the 
manufacture of oleomargarine. The manufacture of this product is 
similar to that of oleo stock, except for the temperatures and pressing. 
Chilling is also different. This lard is one of the best varieties of lard. 
It is made of the fat derived from the leaf fat of slaughtered animals 
(pork) in perfectly fresh state. It is taken immediately after the 
slaughtering and before the carcass is cold. 

' ' The rendering tank or agitator used in the manufacture of neu- 
tral lard is an equipment, the construction of which renders it readily 
and easily maintained in a clean and sanitary condition, but because 
of its being used usually at varying periods of time, there is a possi- 
bility of its corroding or becoming rusty. The tank should be flushed 
thoroughly with hot water and thoroughly dried and rubbed on the 
inside with a cloth saturated with a pale paraffin oil. This has the 
effect of preventing rustiness. 

"Dairy products used in the manufacture of oleomargarine are 
required to be pasteurized. Proprietors and operators are required 
to give to the Bureau advance information of the source of supply of 
butter intended for use in preparing oleomargarine so that the mat- 
ter of pasteurization can be checked against the official list. It is 
the desire of some official establishments to pasteurize the butter by 
heating it to a temperature not less than 180 degrees F. This treat- 
ment of the finished butter for use in preparing oleomargarine is ac- 
ceptable to the Bureau in lieu of the requirement that such butter 
should be made from pasteurized products. Milk and cream used in 
the preparation of oleomargarine should be pasteurized and the butter 
used for this purpose should be made only from pasteurized products. 

^ w tF 

"After the product is packed and ready for shipment, the pack- 
age is required to bear either a stencil or a label showing the name of 
the product, the inspection legend and the establishment number. 

"I have endeavored throughout the course of this paper to show 
the important part the Bureau occupies in the recommendation of 
the character of the equipment that is required to be used, the inspec- 
tion of the fats to be assured that none but those which are clean and 
sound enter into the composition of these products, a constant super- 
vision over the various processes of handling and manufacturing, and 
in fact a constant supervision until the product is prepared for ship- 
ment. During the entire course of their preparation, you will note 
that the inspector has insisted in avoiding all possible chances of con- 
tamination of the products entering into the manufacture of oleomar- 
garine by contact with the arms and hands of the workmen. This has 
resulted almost entirely in the use of mechanical means for handling 
these products. * * * 

7 



The Milk Used in Oleomargarine 

Not only must the milk and butter that are used in the manu- 
facture of oleomargarine be pasteurized as Dr. SehaflEter said, but the 
dairies themselves from which the milk is obtained must be inspected 
and must conform to the sanitary requirements of the government. 
This double precaution is taken to make it doubly certain that oleo- 
margarine shall be a pure and wholesome product. The importance 
of a safe milk supply in the manufacture of milk products will be 
evident after reading the following paragraph on the subject by Dr. 
Lafayette B. Mendel, Milk and Its Products, The Day's Food in War 
and Peace. He said: 

"It is unfortunate that a food as valuable as milk is one of our 
most perishable foods, and one which needs the most careful han- 
dling to keep it safe for use. We avoid dirty milk when we can see 
the dirt, but the existence of invisible dirt is sometimes forgotten. 
From the air (from contaminated water, from ill-cared-for utensils, 
from unclean hands the organisms called bacteria may find their way 
into the milk. Some of them are useful ; without certain kinds, butter 
and cheese would not have their distinctive flavors. Some kinds cause 
milk to turn sour, though it still remains wholesome ; others may form 
from it unwholesome, even poisonous products ; still others may be 
disease germs that make milk a carrier of such maladies as infectious 
sore throat, diphtheria, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis. The only 
way to present danger is to see that everything connected with milk 
is kept as clean as possible and that neither the milk nor anything 
connected with it is handled by anyone who has come in contact with 
these diseases." 

The milk used in every pound of oleomargarine made in the 
United States is produced and handled under the most sanitary con- 
ditions and finally pasteurized. It is therefore unquestionably safe in 
every respect. The animal and vegetable fats and oils that are used 
in the manufacture of oleomargarine are likewise pure and safe arti- 
cles of food. 

The Purity of Oleomargarine 

The purity, wholesomeness, cleanliness, safety, and food value of 
oleomargarine as it leaves the factory cannot be questioned. It is 
always a convenient, palatable, and safe article of diet. There is 
therefore no public health problem involved in it. It is the only 
article of food except meat and meat products that is under govern- 
ment inspection and supervision. The Bureau of Animal Industry 
even controls the labeling of every pound that contains any animal 
fat. The Bureau of Internal Revenue controls the labeling of every 

8 



pound of it regardless of its composition. The Bureau of Chemistry 
also has authority to prevent any adulteration or misbranding of it. 
More than 95 per cent of olemargarine is now packed in clean sanitary- 
cartons and thus protected from contamination on its journey to the 
consumer. By every test, oleomargarine is a clean, safe, nutritious 
fatty foodstuff that performs all of the functions of the Fats group 
of foodstuffs. 

The Color of Oleomargarine 

The largest part of the oleomargarine sold in this country is white 
or nearly so. The ingredients used in its manufacture do not contain 
a sufficient amount of color to impart a yellow color to it. Some 
States prohibit the sale of oleomargarine of any shade of yellow. If 
it is artificially colored yellow, it is subject to a federal tax of 10c per 
pound. No such tax has ever been levied upon any other article of 
food. The manufacturer is not permitted to complete the manufac- 
turer's job and color his oleomargarine to suit the eyes of the house- 
wife. She must do that herself or learn to eat a white product. A 
little capsule of color therefore goes with each retail package of mar- 
garine or will be given to the customer on request. The housewife 
may color the margarine with it. 

Vitamines 

So much has been written on Vitamines that it would be unnec- 
essary to mention this subject in this connection were it not for the 
fact of so much false advertising in connection with this new doctrine. 
The only vitamine that has anything to do with oleomargarine, butter, 
or any one of the other numerous fats is vitamine A, commonly called 
"fat-soluble vitamine," because it is more soluble in fats than in 
water. The other vitamines are not present in fats in important 
quantities. 

So far as is now known, plant life is the primary source of vita- 
mines. Animal tissue, especially the fats, contains vitamine A pro- 
vided the food which the animal eats contains it. The fats of cattle 
on green pasture in the spring time are rich in vitamine A. They 
contain less of it in the winter time when their feed is poor in it. 
Steenbock^ says the vitamine content of butter varies with the 
breed and feed of the cqw. He reported one experiment in which the 
butter fat of a cow fed exclusively on alfalfa hay did not contain any 



3 Dr. H. Steenbock, The Science Press, Vol. 50, p. 352, 

9 



fat-soluble vitamines. Dutcher* says, "In addition to seasonal varia- 
tions in the vitamine content of milk, we have observed marked ef- 
fects of climatic conditions. Periods of drouth, followed by brown- 
ing of the pastures and drying of the grass, are reflected in the 
growth curves of the experimental animals. Halliburton and Drum- 
mond^ found by experiment that some margarins contain sufficient 
quantities of vitamine A to produce growth, reproduction, and the 
rearing of the young of animals. They also found that some of them 
do not. Daniels and Loughlin*' found that rats fed on a ration 
from which all fat-soluble vitamines had been removed except what 
was in the lard of the ration grew normally, reproduced, and reared 
their young. They got the same results with cottonseed oil. This 
subject might be one of serious concern if there were only two or three 
sources of vitamine A. Fortunately there are, according to Eddy, 
The Vitamine Manual, some sixty and odd different foodstuffs that 
contain this vitamine. The chances of a failure to get all of it we 
need in a varied diet are therefore negligible. The following para- 
graphs of a press notice issued by the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture, June 19, 1922, is a sane, unselfish opinion on this subject: 

' ' Ever since the discovery of the presence in certain foods of those 
mysterious beneficial substances now known as vitamines, it has been 
thought that they were to be found in animal tissues most abundantly 
in certain of the internal organs, especially the heart, liver, and kid- 
neys, but the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture now announces that they exist in the muscle 
fibre of beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and pork, and that pork is particu- 
larly well supplied with them. This new evidence on the distribution 
of vitamines in meats should not lead to the conclusion that certain 
meats are of low nutritive value because they are deficient in vita- 
mines. Meat is one of our most important foods and would continue 
to be so even though it contained no vitamines. ' ' 

A similar statement is applicable to any other foodstuff. The 

vitamine doctrine is yet in its infancy and our present information 

relating to it may be greatly modified by new discoveries in a short 

time. It is apparent therefore that it is not necessary to try to buy 

vitamines. 

Economic Importance of Oleomargarine and of 
the Foodstuffs of Which it is Made 

Every civilized country is spending money in researches on the 

production and utilization of fats and oils. The political and economic 



4 Dr. E, A. Duteher, The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 
December, 1921. 

5 The Journal of Physiology, Sept. 1917. 

6 Journal of Biological Chem., Vol. 42, No. 3. 

10 



life of a nation may depend upon these products. In an instructive 
and able address which he delivered at the Convention of the Institute 
of Margarin Manufacturers, Dr. W. W. Skinner, Assistant Chief of 
the Bureau of Chemistry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
said: 

"A failure to fully appreciate the essential importance of a sup- 
ply of fat in the daily diet was one of the miscalculations of the Ger- 
man militarists in preparation for the great war. The Germans for 
years were mobilizing their agricultural and industrial resources in 
preparation for ' the day ' and it seems now rather strange that, when 
so much energy and thought were expended in this direction, the po- 
tent fact of a deficiency in oils and fats should be ignored or dis- 
counted, especially since some of the foremost German scientists had 
pointed out the necessity for the growing of oil bearing plants and the 
domestic production of oils and fats to relieve the country from its 
undesirable condition of dependence upon foreign countries for an 
adequate supply. Shortly after the beginning of the war it became 
evident what an important aspect an adequate supply of oil was to as- 
sume. The Germans undoubtedly thought animal fats could be de- 
pended upon to furnish their needs, since German agricultural 
development for years had been deliberately and purposely devoted 
to the production and development of crops rich in carbohydrates. 
The error was soon discovered but try as they might the Germans 
never were able to supply the deficiency, and the lack of fats and oils 
had a direct and important influence as one of the factors in the final 
outcome. 

' ' The lesson in this is for us to reach a full realization of the im- 
portance of fats in our economic development, and to fully appreciate 
the dependence of the national welfare both in peace and war upon 
an abundant and ever increasing supply of fats and oils. The im- 
portant role, therefore, of fats and oils in our agricultural and eco- 
nomic development is the justification for the Department of Agricul- 
ture maintaining in its Bureau of Animal Industry a unit for investi- 
gational and research work upon animal fats, for maintaining in the 
Bureau of Plant Industry a unit for the study and development of 
our native oil bearing plants, and for the introduction and study 
of foreign plants which give promise of adding to our commercial 
sources of oils and fats, and for maintaining in the Bureau of Chem- 
istry a research laboratory devoted exclusively to the consideration of 
chemical and physical problems of fats and oils especially those of 
vegetable origin, peculiarly important because of their relation to our 
food supply." 

The discovery of the process of making oleomargarine was a dis- 
tinct contribution to science and to the welfare of man. Millions of 
pounds of milk and of animal fats and oils, products of agriculture, 
are now being utilized in convenient and palatable form rather than 
in a crude and unpalatable form. The economic importance of oleo- 
margarine has been referred to in a most interesting and accurate 

11 



way by Mr. Associate Justice Field of the Supreme Court of the 
United States as follows : 

"Upon first impressions one would suppose that it would be a 
matter for congratulations on the part of the State that in the prog- 
ress of science a means had been discovered by which a new article of 
food could be produced equally healthy and nutritious and less ex- 
pensive than one already existing, and for which it could be used as 
a substitute. Thanks and rewards would seem to be the natural re- 
turn for such a discovery, and the increase of the article by the use 
of means thereby encouraged. But not so thought the Legislature of 
the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I have always supposed 
that the gift of life was accompanied with the right to seek and pro- 
duce food by which life can be preserved and enjoyed in all ways not 
encroaching upon the equal rights of others. I have supposed that 
the right to take all measures for the support of life, which are inno- 
cent in themselves, is an element of that freedom which every Ameri- 
can citizen claims as his birthright. The right to pursue one 's happi- 
ness is placed by the Declaration of Independence among the inalien- 
able rights of man, with which all men are endowed, not by the grace 
of emperors or kings or by force of legislative or constitutional enact- 
ments, but by their Creator, and to secure them, not to grant them, 
governments are instituted among men. The right to procure healthy 
and nutritious food, by which life may be preserved and enjoyed, and 
to manufacture it is among these inalienable rights which, in my 
judgment, no State can give, and no State can take away, except in 
punishment for crime. It is involved in the right to pursue one 's hap- 
piness. ' ' 

Oleomargarine is manufactured and sold in every civilized coun- 
try. The number of oleomargarine factories in the important coun- 
tries of the world, so far as the information is available, are given in 
Table III. Many leaders in agriculture throughout the world have 
been courageous enough and impartial enough to recognize the rights 
of consumers and of farmers in relation to this product. In this con- 
nection the remarks of Hon. S. F. Tolmie, Minister of Agriculture of 
Canada, will be worth considering. He was discussing a bill in the 
Canadian Parliament to prohibit the manufacture and sale of oleo- 
margarine. The bill was overwhelmingly defeated. He said : 

"While the National Dairy Council (of Canada) is an organiza- 
tion which is doing a great deal of good, an organization which may 
represent to a considerable extent the dairy interests of this country, 
still we must not forget there are hundreds of thousands of beef 
cattle in this country raised on the ranch and on the farm, and that 
the men who produce these cattle have every right to market their 
products to the very best possible advantage. In the average beef 
steer slaughtered in our packing houses there are ten or twelve pounds 
of oleo oil, and some tallow. The stearine is usually used for short- 
ening in baking and the oleo oil is at present being used in the manu- 
facture of oleomargarine. All this manufacture is carried on under 

12 



the most careful supervision, and this oleo is secured only from what 
are known as the edible fats of the animal carcass. We do not permit 
the manufacture of oleomargarine in the ordinary creamery or dairy, 
because it would be quite impracticable; we would have to maintain 
an army of inspectors to carry on that necessary inspection and super- 
vision. The maufacture of oleo is permitted only in the packing 
houses of the country where we maintain a corps of skilled meat in- 
spectors who see that all the various operations are properly carried 
out. In addition to the inspection of the oleo and of the fats from 
which the oleo is made, there is also the inspection of the vegetable 
oils. The milk and butter used in the manufacture of oleo must either 
come from tested cows, showing that the animals are free from tuber- 
culosis according to the tuberculin test, or must be pasteurized, show- 
ing that there is no possibility of the oleo being contaminated by the 
use of tuberculous milk or butter in its manufacture. * * * 

**Now, with regard to the imported oleo, the animal oleo comes 
in here with a certificate from the Bureau of Animal Industry at 
Washington, D. C, U. S. A., which is the same as our Health of Ani- 
mals Branch here, showing that the product has been manufactured 
under careful supervision. Vegetable oleos made from straight oils 
are accompanied by a certificate from the Bureau of Chemistry at 
Washington showing that these articles have been prepared under 
proper conditions. So that this oleo (oleomargarine) is perfectly 
safe from a health standpoint ; it is considered very wholesome indeed, 
and by the addition of butter it is made more palatable. * * * 
Now, the following is the result of the application of the law by the 
inspectors of the Health of Animals Branch and the Dairy Branch 
during the years 1919 and 1920. In 1919 there were 8 convictions 
under the oleo law, and 111 convictions for the manufacture of bad 
butter. In 1920 there were 12 convictions under the oleo law and 128 
convictions for the manufacture of bad butter, showing that the 
maker of good butter has not so much to fear from the oleo manufac- 
turer as he has from the man who tries to sell inferior butter. 

''I do not see that this House [of Parliament] has any right to 
interfere with the choice of the individual with regard to its pur- 
chase. There is entirely too much interference with personal liberty 
at present, and I have no particular commodity in mind when I say 
that. If the housewife desires to use oleomargarine that is her right. ' ' 

Every state in the Union as well as the federal government has 
a law or laws designed to prevent adulteration and misbranding of 
foodstuffs. In addition to these general food laws there are special 
laws prohibiting the adulteration and misbranding of oleomargarine. 
Nearly all of the large cities have similar laws and machinery for 
their administration. On January 17, 1921, this Institute addressed 
a letter to the law enforcing officials of the several States of the Union, 
asking for the number of persons that were prosecuted in their respec- 
tive States during each of the preceding five years for the sale of oleo- 
margarine as butter. The replies were that there were only sixty-five 
(65) prosecutions of that kind in the whole country, or an average of 

13 



13 prosecutions per annum. During that period there was an average 

of about 300,000,000 pounds of oleomargarine sold per annum. The 

federal government could not furnish similar information, but the 

Annual Report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the year 

1920 contains the following statement with reference to violations of 

the oleomargarine and butter laws : 

"The receipts from the tax on oleomargarine and the tax on the 
business of persons engaged in the handling of this product during 
the last two fiscal years were as follows : 

Receipts from — 1919 1920 

Oleomargarine taxed at 10 cents a pound $ 680,351.45 $1,194,720.17 

Oleomargarine taxed at 1^4 cent a pound. 852,888.80 930,343.25 

Manufacturers' special tax 38,175.00 50,124.51 

Wholesale dealers' special tax 445,366.49 494,961.92 

Retail dealers' special tax 775,049.34 1,058,126.20 

Total $2,791,831.08 $3,728,276.05 

"Violations of the oleomargarine law to the number of 161 cases 
were reported during the year. Of this number 123 cases were com- 
promised and the remainder were either prosecuted or dismissed. In 
addition innumerable technical violations, due mainly to ignorance or 
carelessness as to requirements were discovered. As no hostility to 
enforcement of the law and regulations was apparent, the offenders 
were admonished by field officers and the cases dropped. 

"The receipts from the tax of 10 cents a pound on adulterated 
butter and the occupational taxes imposed upon manufacturers of, 
and wholesale and retail dealers in, adulterated butter amounted to 
$57,023.34, a decrease of $15,264.58 from the previous year. 

"Practically all these receipts represent the tax collected on 
creamery butter containing abnormal quantities of moisture found on 
the market and held to be adulterated, under the act of May 9, 1902, 
and occupational taxes also collected. There are but three regularly 
qualified manufacturers of adulterated butter under that act, all of 
whom produce that product for foreign markets and withdraw for 
export without the payment of tax. ' ' 

It should be understood that the 161 cases of violations of the fed- 
eral oleomargarine law were not all for selling oleomargarine as but- 
ter. Doubtless only a very small per cent were in that category. The 
law and the regulations for its administration are so complex that it 
is extremely difficult to comply with them. The Iowa law requires 
that oleomargarine be labeled "a substitute for butter," The Min- 
nesota law specifically forbids that label. Margarin manufacturers 
have been prosecuted for using the word "churned" in advertise- 
ments describing the method of manufacture of oleomargarine, not- 
withstanding the fact that the milk and fats are put into a sure 

14 



enough butter churn which is revolved exactly as it is when cream is 
churned for butter. The reports, red tape, etc., which margarin 
dealers have to comply with, as with no other product, in marketing 
it, are difficult to comply with and many of the 161 violations men- 
tioned were in that category. 

The United States of America is the only country that has placed 
heavy burdens not only as taxes but unnecessary laws and adminis- 
trative regulations for their enforcement upon this product of agricul- 
ture. The sort of taxes are indicated in the report of the Commis- 
sioner of Internal Revenue as quoted above. These hardships are to 
a degree a prohibition of the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine, 
for they actually limit the consumption of it by limiting the number 
of producers and dealers in the industry and by prohibiting manu- 
facturers from imparting to the product those qualities which the 
consumer demands. 

Many great thinkers believe that one nation has a right to pro- 
tect its own industries by levying taxes upon the products of the com- 
petitive industries of foreign countries or even by outright prohibition 
of the importation of such products. But no one has ever advocated 
the policy of prohibiting the sale of any useful and necessary consum- 
able commodity to protect another commodity produced under the 
same flag. 

Oleomargarine is not only a wholesome foodstuff, safe from the 
standpoint of public health, an economic necessity, but it is manu- 
factured and sold as oleomargarine in compliance with most stringent 
and even unfair laws. Had it not been for the fact that it competes 
with other products its invention would be more generally emphasized 
as one of the great scientific contributions to human welfare. 



15 



TABLE I 



Materials Used ii^ the Manufacture of Oleomargarine, Year ended June 30, 1921. 



Pounds 

Cocoanut oil 103,111,916 

Milk 79,715,584 

Oleo oil 49,675,749 

Neutral oil 29,267,960 

Salt 25,365,499 

Cottonseed oil 18,532,860 

Peanut oil ; 16,332,498 

Vegetable oil 6,559,034 

Oleo stearine 4,857,972 

Oleo stock 2,065,231 



Pounds 

Butter 1,498,625 

Corn oil 925,999 

Soya-Bean oil 461,129 

Edible tallow 233,227 

Mustard-seed oil 109,748 

Coloring 25,915 

Miscellaneous 3,216,742 



Total 341,955,688 



TABLE II 



Digestibility and Energy Value of Edible Fats 



Digestibility 

Oleomargarine 97% 

Butter 97 

Cocoanut oil 97 

Olive oil 98 

Peanut oil 98 

Oleo oil (Prepared from beef 

fat) 97 

Hog fat 97 

Cottonseed oil 97 



Energy Value 

About 3,500 calories per pound 

About 3,500 calories per pound 

4,080 calories per pound 

4,080 calories per pound 

4,080 calories per pound 

4,080 calories per pound 
4,080 calories per pound 
4,080 calories per pound 



TABLE III 

The Number of Oleomargarine Factories, the Per Capita Consumption, and the 
Production of Oleomargarine in the Most Importan,t Countries of the World 



Countries 
United States . . 



Number of 
Margarin 
Factories 
63 



United Kingdom 24 

England 

Ireland 

Scotland 

Wales 

Belgium 10 

Holland 24 

Norway and Sweden 34 

Denmark 51 

Germany 120 

France 12 

New Foundland 4 

Austria 10 

Havana 4 

Italy 13 

Czecho-Slovakia 5 

Switzerland 12 

Finland 6 

Poland 1 



Per Capita 
Consumption 
Per Annum 
Pounds 
1.5 in 1913 
3.8 in 1920 
14.5 in 1918 



11.0 in 1917 
47.0 in 1914 
34.0 in 1913 
42.0 in 1916 
6.0 in 1912 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknovra 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 



Total Annual Production 
Pounds 
1913 1920 

145,227,862 391,283,143 

187,651,520 728,000,000 



28,000,000 
123,000,000 
106,000,000 

93,166,396 

220,000,000 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Unknown 



55,440,000 



Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 



16 



vr. B. c. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000 891 366 3 



